Random thoughts / "You know you're a newly adoptive dad when" / Jaden quotes

Tim here with a few comments during our last full day in Chengdu.  Today was a fairly quiet day for us.  We did some paperwork stuff today and then went to an older section of town for some sightseeing.  Tomorrow we pack up and in the late afternoon we will fly from Chengdu to Guangzhou.

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Ok, first the list of random thoughts

#1 ... People like to honk their horns in Chengdu ... all day and night ... I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm like, "hey, it's 3 AM ... WHO ARE YOU HONKING AT???"

#2 ... Katie loves her Mama

#3 ... Katie is adventurous ... As an example, she liked going right down the slide on her belly in the playroom ... over and over again

#4 ... Katie likes splashing in the pool (as long as she is in Mama's lap) and does not mind getting splashed in the face.

#5 ... Katie is watching her big brother and learning from him

#6 ... Katie loves her Mama

#7 ... Katie rolls around in the bed a lot at night ... And when she is on her belly she will bend her leg at the knee and kick her leg down 3-4 times in a row, then pause for about 15 seconds, then do it again and again and again ... and it's really really cute.

#8 ... People really really really like to honk their horns in Chengdu.  GIVE IT A REST, WOULD YA!!
#9 ... Riding a scooter in crazy traffic in the rain without a helmet while holding an umbrella seems totally normal in Chengdu.
#10 ... Katie loves her Mama!

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You know you're a newly adoptive dad when

1.  Getting kicked in the face at night ... over and over again ... brings you unspeakable joy ... true story

2.  You wake up because in your dream you have a bright, pulsing beacon of light to your right ... And when you wake up that is exactly where your daughter is sleeping ... true story

3.  You'd rather rub your sleeping child's back than sleep, no matter how tired you are ... true story

4.  You wish you'd get kicked in the face by your (younger) daughter some more ... true story (Hey Laura, notice I did specify the younger daughter)

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A  FEW OF JADEN'S QUOTES over the past few days:

After I called him Jaden on GOTCHA day ... I'm not 'Jaden', I'm 'big brother' "

He's been a little confused about what Katie can and cannot eat.  And I'm not sure he trusts us to feed her right.  He was looking at the box of baby rice cereal which had a picture of a baby giraffe on it ... "I think that is food for a baby giraffe!"

Tuesday ... The morning after GOTCHA ... 

5:45 AM ... "Shhh, my baby's sleeping"

6:15 AM ... "Why is my baby gonna sleep all day?"

6:30 AM ... His prayer while Katie was still sleeping  (he had scraped his cheek with a toy the day before) ...

"Father, thank you for making Baba's knee better 

and Jaden's cheek better 

and let Mama feel love 

and let my baby sister know we love her.

Amen."  (Insert sounds of Dad sniffing back tears here)